Unit deal done, pending contingencies

[Kolo]

Some may not be aware that the deal has been agreed to, and it's in the commissioner's office. If this has been covered in another thread, my apologies.

to AZ: Penny, Green, Brazoban, prospect Weeden

to LA: Vasquez, Koplove, propects Duncan and Navarro

to NY: Unit, Kaz Ishii, $2 million from LA (to pay part of Ishii's salary)

This is the deal. All three teams signed off on the paperwork yesterday. When the commissioner's office approves it (likely Monday or Tuesday), the teams have 72 hours to get players to waive no trade clauses. When those are waived and all players pass physicals, the deal is official. The Post speculates that Green will require an extension to agree to waive the no trade, and that he'll get one. I see 3 years and $30 million in his future, and a lot of NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!'s in this messagee board's future.

Also, Dodgers have agreed on a contract w/ J.D. Drew, contingent on the Unit deal getting done. Adding him to their take makes the deal look far better for them, even though ESPN Insider had the deal at 5 years, $12 million per.

I hope we can move Hillenbrand and/or Cintron for a centerfielder or a bullpen lefty or another starting pitcher.

http://newyorkpost.com/sports/yankees/36734.htm

 

[Brandon_Webb]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Brian Cashman should get Hall of Fame consideration for this deal.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Call me crazy, but I think this deal is WORSE than the Schilling deal.

 

[AZZenny]

You're not crazy - it's every bit as bad, and indeed becomes worse if we are saddled with a long, expensive contract. (Ummm... Still want to defend this GM's office? I'll be happy to throw in Moorad and The Nerds, too.)

Since I can't get a refund on my partial season tix, maybe I'll buy a couple blow-up dolls, go down and inflate them each game to fill the seats and have them holding a sign "Joe Sucks."

 

[sunsfn]

Who knows anything about Weeden?

Will Green get that much? YIKES!

 

[Kolo]

Who knows anything about Weeden?

He was drafted by the Yankees in '02 in the second round out of high school, and traded to the Dodgers in the Weaver/Brown deal. He was primarily a ss in high school, and has been converted to be a starting pitcher. He's been pretty good but not spectacular, he's tall and lanky so they expect him to develop physically, he gets it up into the 92 mph range now, all of his pitches are works in progress, he was in low A-ball last year and somewhat young for his league, w/ these stats:

PITCHERS W-L PCT ERA G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H AB TBF R ER HR SH SF HB BB IB SO WP BK 0H 1H 2H 3H

Weeden, Brandon 7- 9 .438 5.39 27 27 0 0 0 0 122.0 119 446 546 84 73 15 5 9 13 73 2 106 4 2 0 0 0 0


I guess I'm the only one who likes this deal. I won't go into the reasons, because that debate has already grown old on another thread.

 

[devilalum]

Why do the Dbacks want Green so bad?

This guy has shown no reason to believe that he will do anything but continue to suck. Its not like he had one bad year.

 

[boondockdrunk]

Why do the Dbacks want Green so bad?

This guy has shown no reason to believe that he will do anything but continue to suck. Its not like he had one bad year.

I think their thinking is that Green will be moving from a pitcher's ballpark to a hitter ballpark
I dont think this trade is as bad as the Schilling deal... Penny is ALOT better than Fossum. Weeden is better than the prospect we got (not De la Rosa).

The only major problem is the money that it will take to keep Green.

Why do the Dodgers do this deal? They give up 2 starters for one (is Vasques any better than Penny?) and all they get in return are two prospects with nothing more than "potential."

 

[boondockdrunk]

"One rumor has it that Brandon Weeden, the prospect coming to Arizona in the eventual Johnson deal, may be packaged with another young Arizona pitcher (Murphy or Gosling?) and a young position player (Kata or Hairtson) to florida for A.J. Burnett."

THIS DEAL JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT BETTER!!!! If this happens... it would be awesome. I would definately give up Johnson for a rotation of Penny, Burnett, Webb, Ortiz, and another.

 

[devilalum]

I think their thinking is that Green will be moving from a pitcher's ballpark to a hitter ballpark

Of course this is assuming that there is actually someone in the front office who has a lucid thought.

 

[AZZenny]

Weeden, Murphy, Hairston, perhaps Hammock, maybe Fossum or Shea, letsee, or maybe Cintron... clear roster space, remove some unpleasantries, get Burnett... It is, of course, too silly to imagine our front office doing something effective for a change. Btw, did you see in SI that the Russ Ortiz deal has been nominated as the worst contract of the off season so far? I'd say Kris Benson, or perhaps Pedro, myself, but we sure do know how to generate good press.

 

[Brandon_Webb]

"One rumor has it that Brandon Weeden, the prospect coming to Arizona in the eventual Johnson deal, may be packaged with another young Arizona pitcher (Murphy or Gosling?) and a young position player (Kata or Hairtson) to florida for A.J. Burnett."

I would be crying of happiness.

 

[boondockdrunk]

Weeden, Murphy, Hairston, perhaps Hammock, maybe Fossum or Shea, letsee, or maybe Cintron... clear roster space, remove some unpleasantries, get Burnett... It is, of course, too silly to imagine our front office doing something effective for a change. Btw, did you see in SI that the Russ Ortiz deal has been nominated as the worst contract of the off season so far? I'd say Kris Benson, or perhaps Pedro, myself, but we sure do know how to generate good press.

How do they not pick the Benson deal? That one inflated all the other prices for free agents... do they think that Benson still hasnt reached his potential? Or do they just add in the moral of the players for keeping Mrs. Benson around?

 

[AZZenny]

Jayson Stark says it was Pedro's deal.

...Martinez will never throw another pitch in that Red Sox uniform. We know that now.
We know because on Monday, he said yes to the New York Mets, to an offer of $50 million over four years that is as close to a definition of insanity in baseball as we have witnessed since -- what? -- the Mike Hampton contract?

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

"One rumor has it that Brandon Weeden, the prospect coming to Arizona in the eventual Johnson deal, may be packaged with another young Arizona pitcher (Murphy or Gosling?) and a young position player (Kata or Hairtson) to florida for A.J. Burnett."

THIS DEAL JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT BETTER!!!! If this happens... it would be awesome. I would definately give up Johnson for a rotation of Penny, Burnett, Webb, Ortiz, and another.

We are very thin on solid starting pitcher prospects at the AAA or AA level, Id be very hesitant to give one up, even for Burnett. I wouldnt mind trading for him, but Id be very cautious on what to give up.

 

[BOB_Man24]

BTW.....good trade for the Yanks in the present....

Like everyone else, my only concern in this trade is if we give Green a massive extension....HOWEVER he is owed 16 mil in 2005. If we can get him to depreciate that 16 mil into the extension and thus average of 7/8 mil per year for a 3 year extension, i wouldnt be sweating it as much.

 

[AZZenny]

Yeah, well, at the risk of being too graphic, I believe normally starts his negotiations handing the player's agent a bar of soap and then bending over to tie his shoes.

I cannot believe how depressing this all has become. In a matter of 2 weeks I've gone from coming off AzFL and feeling upbeat and excited about the future - 2006 and beyond - to being totally bummed about overpaid, mediocre, long-term contracts - AGAIN. And there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it.

 

[Kolo]

I honestly have no idea why almost everybody who posts here is pissed about the moves we've made. Sure, we're taking some risk w/ some guys who've been hurt, but what else would you have us do? Trade away our farm system for vets like we've done in years past? Shawn Green is only 32 and had a great second half last year coming off an injury, as did Glaus. And look at what Sexson got. Look at what one year wonders like Beltre and Jaret Wright got this offseason. Would you honestly rather have them? Not me.

And as far as the Unit trade goes, we were in an almost impossible position--obliged to trade a guy to one specific team, and everybody knew it. To get guys who've had success in the past, and guys in Penny and Brazoban who are young and could develop into dominant pitchers, seems like a good return for the Unit to me, when we had no choice but to dump him.

Maybe playing the Diablos at BOB like we did last year would make everybody happier.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

I honestly have no idea why almost everybody who posts here is pissed about the moves we've made. Sure, we're taking some risk w/ some guys who've been hurt, but what else would you have us do? Trade away our farm system for vets like we've done in years past? Shawn Green is only 32 and had a great second half last year coming off an injury, as did Glaus. And look at what Sexson got. Look at what one year wonders like Beltre and Jaret Wright got this offseason. Would you honestly rather have them? Not me.

And as far as the Unit trade goes, we were in an almost impossible position--obliged to trade a guy to one specific team, and everybody knew it. To get guys who've had success in the past, and guys in Penny and Brazoban who are young and could develop into dominant pitchers, seems like a good return for the Unit to me, when we had no choice but to dump him.

Maybe playing the Diablos at BOB like we did last year would make everybody happier.

Cant speak for everybody else, but Ive liked all of the moves so far, except for the RJ deal and maybe the Counsell deal as well. I dont particularly like the Counsell deal because I think it will end up meaning that we will prematurely give up on Hairston. As for the RJ deal, it just simply makes no sense. Penny is great and all, but is he healthy? Nobody knows. Shawn Green could end up having a fantastic year, but I wouldnt want to risk it with that monstrosity of a contract. Why are we dealing RJ and adding payroll at the same time? I think we should have asked for something along the lines of Penny, Brazoban, Werth, and Cano (of the Yankees) for RJ.

 

[boondockdrunk]

Cant speak for everybody else, but Ive liked all of the moves so far, except for the RJ deal and maybe the Counsell deal as well. I dont particularly like the Counsell deal because I think it will end up meaning that we will prematurely give up on Hairston. As for the RJ deal, it just simply makes no sense. Penny is great and all, but is he healthy? Nobody knows. Shawn Green could end up having a fantastic year, but I wouldnt want to risk it with that monstrosity of a contract. Why are we dealing RJ and adding payroll at the same time? I think we should have asked for something along the lines of Penny, Brazoban, Werth, and Cano (of the Yankees) for RJ.

Shawn Green's contract is going to be re-worked all together. Not just an extension, maybe less than the 16 million he is signed to make next year. Also, Penny needs to pass a physical in order for the trade to go through. If the D'backs have any hesitations about his health then they wont go through with the trade.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

New article, looks like we've hit a snag as the Dodgers are holding up the deal for now.

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com...219&content_id=924234&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp

 

[BOB_Man24]

I honestly have no idea why almost everybody who posts here is pissed about the moves we've made. Sure, we're taking some risk w/ some guys who've been hurt, but what else would you have us do? Trade away our farm system for vets like we've done in years past? Shawn Green is only 32 and had a great second half last year coming off an injury, as did Glaus. And look at what Sexson got. Look at what one year wonders like Beltre and Jaret Wright got this offseason. Would you honestly rather have them? Not me.

And as far as the Unit trade goes, we were in an almost impossible position--obliged to trade a guy to one specific team, and everybody knew it. To get guys who've had success in the past, and guys in Penny and Brazoban who are young and could develop into dominant pitchers, seems like a good return for the Unit to me, when we had no choice but to dump him.

Maybe playing the Diablos at BOB like we did last year would make everybody happier.

Im not pissed about the trade, nor about any of the other moves. As i look at it, we did overpay for Ortiz, but the bottom line is there is not other way we could have gotten anyone else here. As it is Clement just signed with the BoSox. Needless to say, i REALLY like Glaus. Hopefully he will be able to come off his injuries much better than Sexson would have, so in my eyes i love that move.

Now would i rather have Green over Burnitz? Hell yeah. I dont care how much we are paying him, i dont like Burnitz at all in any capacity. I only question management and if they will be able to rework Greens contract in the manner in which they should.

Lastly, I like Penny a lot. Regardless we had to dump Johnson like you say so in my eyes getting Penny and Brazoban is not bad compared to what we did last year with Schilling. Speaking of which though, if Fossum can get a little better and actually become a solid Number 4/5 starter, then it looks to me like we have a decent shot at being competative this year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

New article, looks like we've hit a snag as the Dodgers are holding up the deal for now.

They are waiting until they know that JD Drew and Derek Lowe will be in Dodger blue next year.

 

[AZZenny]

Speaking only for myself, I am distressed by the offseason thus far because:

We have a so-so pitcher with some questions about his health signed to an overly-rich, overly long contract.

We have a potential slugger with significant injury history signed to an overly rich, overly long contract.

We have a fan-favorite infielder with declining speed and skills signed to an overly rich, overly long contract.

We have a light-hitting defensively-useless veteran catcher signed - for some reason that escapes me.

We are shipping out the greatest lefty starter alive, and reportedly we are saving his salary to invest in really good young players.

But wait - we are spending that 'saved' salary on a decent-hitting but at this point grotesquely overpaid outfielder on the downside of his career. (Shawn Green is not as 'youthful' as Finley, for sure.) We will apparently offer that OF a lucrative contract extension - if you think Green is going to take a big pay cut to come here, think again. (By domino effect, I look for Gonzo to seek a similar contract/extension by mid-season if he's at all healthy.)

We are getting an arbitration-eligible pitcher we once traded away, who thus far remains more potential than realization, and who has an unusual arm injury doctors aren't even sure how to evaluate or treat. (I bet they'll sign him to a multi-year deal before ST is over.)

So rather than seeing inflated payroll moved off the books in 2005/2006 so we can slim down and go after real young talent, we will have a load of payroll tied up over the next 4 years on guys who were not our first choices, several on the declining side of their careers, and three of whom have known serious injury histories.

Maybe we'll be lucky - But if we're unlucky at all, we've once again strapped ourselves down financially so it'll be hard to recover from our mistakes.

Oh yeah - we have a defensively sound, light-hitting infielder signed to an appropriate contract. If the Royce Clayton signing is the best deal cut thus far, we're not doing that well.